Mercenary Units.

**Ignoramus** · 06-12-2005, 08:27

Post here the definate mercenary units as well as suggestions for them.

My Suggestions:

Note: These are, to my knowledge, reasonably historical, if you see some which have the wrong location etc., then please tell me and I will correct it.

Name: Swiss Mercenaries.
Location: Switzerland, Papal States.
Quality: Good disciplined pikemen.
Cost: Expensive.

Name: Mercenary Arquebusiers.
Location: Everywhere.
Quality: Sub-standard gunpowder infantry.
Cost: Mid-Range.

Name: Serbian Infantry.
Location: Serbia, Croatia, northern Greece, Bulgaria
Quality: Low quality disciplined spearmen.
Cost: Cheap.

Name: Turcoman Mercenaries.
Location: Turkey/Asia Minor/Anatolia.
Quality: Good, reliable, and swift horse archers.
Cost: Mid-Range.

Name: Holibars.
Location: Ireland.
Quality: Lightly armoured Irish horsemen.
Cost: Cheap.

Name: Highland Mercenaries
Location: Scotland
Quality: Weaker version of the main Scottish Highland unit.
Cost: Mid-Range.

What do you think so far?

**Ranika** · 06-12-2005, 08:46

Hobilars in this period are not lightly armored, not cheap, and definitely not mercenaries. They were in the earlier middle ages, but by this period, they were the isolated remains of Irish aristocrats and Normano-Irish nobility; they fought for the French and Spaniards, but not as mercenaries. They were given lands and used to replace disloyal nobles; they were transferred nobility, and brought their armies, as well as recieved local soldiers. They fought for the English as well, but those were Normano-Irish nobles, in English controlled regions of Ireland (making them regionals).

Instead, there are Galloglaich/Galloglaidh (Anglicized as 'Gallowglass', exist from about 1250 onward) in all of Britain and Ireland. They fought for everyone who had the money to afford their rather high price, the Irish just happened to hire them in huge number.

**Narayanese** · 06-12-2005, 19:13

I see stradioti are listed by yggdrasill as mercenaries, but I got the impression after reading about them that they fought for venice alone.

Swiss should be availible to at least the HRE highland states, i've read about them being used as garrison in some cities there. A pope (from the Borgia family) used swiss mercenaries in a war against the northern italian states, but milan used swiss mercs too, all in the 16th century.

**Uesugi Kenshin** · 06-13-2005, 03:26

Thanks for continuing to keep us on track with the Irish units Ranika!

Other than the one main iossue it looks fine to me, I had no idea the Swiss were used by the HRE...

**Yggdrasill** · 06-13-2005, 09:26

Stradioti fought for other Italian city states, for France etc.
If you had the cash, they wouldn't ask you were you came from. Venice was their primary employer because of their extensive overseas possessions, they had an easy access to the Stradiot's primary recruiting grounds.

The Swiss and the HRE kind of hated each other. They were mercenaries and they would, in theory, fight for anybody, but they mainly fought for France which was their primary employer. They were found in other armies as well (Papal and other Italian statelets) but generally not in the armies of the HRE and the various German princes and bishops. If some did find themselves in there, they were usually the dregs of the Swiss war machine, and very inefficient, not worthy of their counterparts fighting for other nations.

The hatred began during the BAvarian wars, but they especially hated the HAbsburgs that had tried to conquer the Fedration at one point. Swiss confederation was very liberal and democratic republic and the generally disliked the feudal overlords.